"Joba Chamberlain is selfish. Joba Chamberlain is irresponsible. Get rid of Chamberlain!" These are just some of the things I have read about Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain. To all these, I say ridiculous!

No, not a Yankee fan. Not even close. Not even a fan of the big fella. But I am a fan of anyone who puts their children as the most important thing in their life.

Long-time baseball writer John Harper was the most glaring, basically saying it is time for Chamberlain to grow up and take some responsibility. How absurd. If spending time with your son isn't taking responsibility, then I don't know what is.

It is unfortunate what happened to Joba, tearing up his ankle playing with his 5-year-old boy playing on a trampoline. A freak accident. But to slam him because he was doing the fatherly thing? That's just wrong in my opinion.

Chamberlain recently spent some time in the Capitol Region, lending a hand and participating in a local telethon raising money for a good cause, the annual Disabilities Services Telethon in Albany, where he signed autographs for a couple of hours.

Can Chamberlain act immature at times? Sure. Who doesn't? But to be taken to the wood shed because he was being a father? Really, John Harper? What can be more responsible than spending time with your blood, especially in a time when we see so many kids who have one parent (or even two) getting in trouble with the law? I won't jump on a moral soapbox here, but it seems to me Chamberlain was doing exactly what he should have been doing. The long baseball season means fathers are away from their families, including their kids, for much of the next 6-7 months. Using some downtime to play with little Karter was exactly where Chamberlain should have been.

Only myopic baseball fans or foolish baseball writers would demand Joba spend every minute of every day on baseball and only baseball (and neglect the kid). You want to say he shouldn't have been horsing around on a trampoline? I say how many trampoline accidents are there? It was an unforeseen accident. Heck, going by stats you can be hurt worse (and more often) driving your child to McDonald's for a happy meal. Should Poppa Joba not take his kid for food, either?

I feel bad for Joba, who looks like he will miss his second straight year with injury, but I applaud Chamberlain for having his priorities straight. It's easy being a dad, but difficult being a FATHER.

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